For the Contest  Promises Don't Last
by KleopatraSelene
Summary: I have lived a long life filled with love and purpose, and despite the cruelty of my actions, I wouldn't change one minute. Life is simple, humans just make it hard, all you need to live a happy live is love and he gave me love when everyone shunned me.


**I'm such a procrastinator, let's leave it at that. When I scrolled through the contest entries and saw that no one wrote for Matamune I knew that I had to do something for him! I love that smart cat! **

**Anyway, this story is basically Matamune remembering his life the important people in his life. **

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>This weak heart<br>I can finally tear off this heavy shell  
>Even if there's no grave<br>Even if there's no grave**

**Living amongst mankind and still feeling sorrowful  
>Greeting each New Year with feelings of happiness<br>Love is the meeting  
>The separation<br>It's a transparent piece of cloth  
>Osorezan revoir<strong>

**Though I am unworthy  
>It's the joy of supremacy to scatter and spread<br>That although I might appear lifeless  
>It does not bother me<br>So won't you show me a smile or two?**

**This song, that will never become  
>A tender attachment to the heart<br>With this will come to an end  
>What is that country that shines from above?<br>May it be where the Ksitigarbha is.  
>Love is the meeting<br>The separation  
>It's a transparent piece of cloth.<br>Osorezan revoir  
>Osorezan au revoir.<strong>

Life is simple, yet we somehow make it hard. We complicate everything by worrying and craving for materialistic possessions when in the end all that matters is what the heart gains. At the end of our short lives we leave all earthly belongings to disintegrate like we never even cared for them. We hunger for power and superiority like it will somehow aquire us a place in heaven when in reality all we are doing is creating iron shackles that will drag our souls deep down into hell when we die.

There is only one thing we need to live a happy life. Love. Love, the feeling of knowing that someone is always looking out for our safety, the feeling of knowing that our life means something to someone and that we bring joy to at least one person through our actions. But in this cruel and twisted world, true love has become increasingly complicated to find.

Over the years, I have realized that it was the reason why he transformed into the person he is now. Mappa Douji and Asakura Hao are two sides of a coin, different as night and day yet somehow the same.

Throughout his youth and into his adulthood, Mappa was a diamond in the rough, an innocent boy whose world was destroyed by the cruelty of human nature and the very greed that makes life difficult to live. But somehow, his kind nature managed to survive, even if only for a while. Without the little shred of kindness left in his heart I would have never been part of his life. He tried to help them, tried to make them understand their wrong ways, and I watched over him as we did.

But at last, the human's spiteful nature extinguished the small flame of compassion that burned in his heart, leaving only a cold and desolated feeling behind, all because they couldn't bring themselves to try and tolerate his uniqueness. At that moment, Asakura Hao was born; a much more violent individual, but still possessing the misunderstood and frightened side of Mappa.

Yet somehow, he still looked at me with the same trusting gaze, since I was the only creature in his life that he could trust. His mother was gone and Ohachiyo deserted him because he could not bear his hypocritical nature, for Hao had said that he hated the humans and then he had committed the same dreadful crimes they had. I stayed by his side, partly out of love and devotion, and partly because I feared what he might do without my presence. I promised him that I would always be by his side and vouched to never break our bond. At the time, it seemed like such an easy feat.

But promises never last. We cannot predict the future; we cannot know what will happen that could impact our lives and force us to break even the most important promises. Years later, during his second shaman tournament, I again vouched to stay by his side. A pledge I should never have made.

The Patch have responsibilities; they have the hardest job, for they must remain impartial until the end even if the winning shaman is not fit to be king in their eyes. I thought this would have been enough to end his growing hunger. But it was the opposite. His reincarnation into the Patch was only a means for him to be able to gain access to the King of Spirits. My heart shattered when I realized his true motives.

Could sparing the lives of thousands be worth the death of one? I wished from the bottom of my heart that I could answer no. For the sake of many innocent and also those who caused him harm, I left him. A promise made to the one person I cared for most was broken for the sake of strangers.

I will never forget his expression at our final battle; I allied with Yohken and Hao allied with the Spirit of Fire. He was much stronger spirit than I, capable of much more than I was, yet I could tell that he meant nothing to Hao. That is why he lost. In a twisted turn of events I played on his weakness in order to stop him, a low and cheap trick that only dirty humans use. His expression was one of pure misery, he watched me with the same innocent eyes of Mappa, the same ones that held only loneliness. Seeing him in such a state crushed the shards of my broken heart into fine powder, making it easy for the wind of guilt to scatter.

He never hated me. Yet I wished that he did. No goodbyes were exchanged. Goodbyes mean an end to a journey, and ours was not yet over.

Because of his actions, Yohken's soul sunk down to hell. There was nothing I could do to save him. I felt as though I let him down, but in his dying words he stated that he felt only joy in his heart knowing that humanity would be safe, if only for five hundred years. We never said goodbye.

After Yohken's death, I traveled the world, trying to understand the nature of this people. I read thousands of books and met an array of different individuals, yet I never found another person quite like him. No one in this world seemed to possess the same charisma as him.

And then, I met her. A little girl, whose eyes burned with the same fear and strength as his. I knew from the very first moment I met her that she was special, and I hoped desperately that she could save him. But my hopes began to diminish when I realized that despite possessing the same kindling feelings, she was alone in this world. I knew all too well how such amazing power could have catastrophic affects if left untamed, but there was no one who could tame her.

Just as my hopes were about to burn out, Kino made the drastic decision to marry Anna to Yoh. At their first meeting, I knew that he was the only one pure enough to tame her troubled soul and assuage her loneliness. For this noble purpose, I was more than willing to sacrifice my long lived life, to sacrifice the gift he gave me.

Together, they could save Hao. Together could overcome any obstacle. Their love was the same as the one Hao and I shared. As my final action, I wrote each a letter, telling them goodbye.

I have lived a long life and have learned more than anyone could ever hope for, yet I never quite understood the true nature of humans. I guess there are some mysteries in this world that even a lifetime of searching will not bring forth an answer. I watch over them from heaven, waiting for the day when we will be reunited. There is nothing more that I can do; I have fulfilled my duty. My life was simple, filled with love and purpose. Inside their hearts, my memory is still alive, and my heart is slowly rebuilding each time they speak kindly of me.

I just hope that they will never forget me.

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><p><strong>Hope you guys liked it! Tell me what you thought please :) <strong>


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